The disclosure relates to a method for selective operator guidance for operator inputs, in particular for operator inputs in a home appliance. In addition, the disclosure relates to a control panel component, in particular for an operating control panel of a home appliance, and to a method for producing a control panel component, in particular for an operating control panel of a home appliance.
The approaches and configurations described and explained below may be used in particular in the field of home appliances. Home appliances may include in particular so-called “white goods”, i.e., for example, conventional appliances for cooling, washing, cooking, baking etc.
Control panel arrangements or operating front plates in home appliances may generally comprise interfaces for user interaction. These may involve, for example, displays, warning lights, rotary switches, pushbuttons, momentary-contact pushbuttons, touch-sensitive surfaces or displays and associated labels or symbols. Conventional input elements such as, for example, buttons or switches often result in a certain degree of complexity in terms of the manufacture of operating front plates and control panel arrangements. This complexity may be even greater the more possibilities there are for user interaction, i.e. the more user inputs are possible. In addition, a significant increase in the number of switches, buttons or the like can make operating the home appliance more difficult.
Various approaches are known from the prior art for enabling a plurality of operator inputs using only one “user interface”. In this connection, DE 10 2008 032 451 A1 discloses a cooking appliance and a method for operating a cooking appliance, wherein the cooking appliance comprises an input display which is arranged as a touchscreen and may graphically display various information. In particular, this includes representing information in the form of graphical visualizations and/or animations. However, such a configuration is associated with a high level of complexity and is therefore essentially only suited for high-end appliances and for appliances for professional use.
In view of this it is an object to present a method for selective operator guidance in a home appliance.
It is a further object to present a control panel component, in particular an operating control panel for a home appliance, which is suitable for implementing the above operator guidance method.
It is a further object to present a corresponding method for producing such a control panel component, which may be implemented with little complexity and nevertheless may allow an extended user interaction.
It is a further object to present a control panel component that is suitable for a large number of variants and configurations in order to be able to limit the manufacturing complexity involved even in the case of relatively small production batch sizes.
It is a further object to allow for operator guidance which facilitates operation and use of the home appliance.
It is a further object to present a front plate arrangement and a home appliance comprising such a front plate arrangement that provides a high-quality integrated configuration.
It is yet a further object to present a front plate arrangement and a home appliance comprising such a front plate arrangement that may be perceived by the operator as providing high visual quality.